1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to a method of and improved apparatus for dispensing cold beverage wherein dispensing heads are spaced from a cooling structure and a control has function and structure for keeping cold water at the dispensing head by periodically drawing off warm water.
2. THE PRIOR ART
Cold beverage dispensing systems are old, well known and in extensive use by beverage retailers. A typical installation has a discrete beverage cooling device such as an ice cooled cold plate or coils submerged in an ice and water bath. A group of dispensing valves or heads are located a short distance from the cooler. As an example, the heads will be in a tower about two feet above a counter and the cold plate will be below the counter-top. If a water and ice bath cooler is used, it will probably be on the floor under the counter. There typically is a length of hose from the cooler to the dispensing heads. The hoses will typically be in the range of two to six feet long.
There is an emerging preference by many of the fast food retailers for ice cooled beverage equipment. This equipment is the least costly, takes the least counter space, is the most reliable, is the quietest, and puts no heat into the interior of a retailing facility.
When the dispensing heads are spaced and remote from the cooler, the heads are also remote from the cooling. If the heads are dispensing respectively, they and the beverage being dispensed there through are kept cold by the repetitive flow of cold beverage if and when dispensing is repetitive, there usually is no problem with keeping the dispensed beverage cold. Periods of repetitive dispensing include breakfast, lunch and evening eating times.
Periods of inactivity, such as between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and evening, and overnight cause severe problems with warm beverage. The beverage dispensing heads warm up to ambient temperature as does the beverage in the head. The beverage in the lines leading from the cooler to the dispensing heads also warms up to a temperature close to ambient. Consequently, when a customer shows up and wants a drink, the beverage is warm and will foam when dispensed. A standard acceptable upper limit for temperature of carbonated beverages is 40 degrees F. (4.5 degrees C.). A casually drawn drink during a period of relative inactivity may have a temperature approaching ambient. It is true that this warm drink can be poured over ice, but when this is done there is a significant loss of carbonation and dilution of the beverage with melted ice. This is unacceptable to the soft drink companies and the customer does not get the quality beverage expected. The retailer simply is not serving the quality expected by the public, and the quality the soft drink companies want served.
At the start of the business day, the retailer will have to draw off several drinks to get the dispensed drink temperature acceptable. These drinks are waste and usually are disposed of down the drain. One day may not be bad, but three times a day, 365 days a year and it is easy to see how this adds up to a measurable and significant increase in the cost of goods sold to a retailer. Further, the retailer has a somewhat unpredictable dispenser in that it really is not known if the drinks will be cold or warm, and what temperature they will be at, and whether or not they will foam, and how much ice will be needed in the cup.
There are further problems with ice cooled dispensers in that nothing is available to indicate whether or not the cold plate is out of ice, or if the ice has bridged and cooling has been temporarily lost. Typically, the retailer has to assume something is wrong, when the dispenser starts foaming. In this type of equipment, there is nothing available to indicate when carbonation pressure is too low. There simply is no drink quality control equipment an technique for ice cooled beverage dispensing equipment. There is no equipment and system and/or technique for ice cooled beverage dispensing wherein the temperature of the drink is maintained at within a desirable range of cold serving temperatures, regardless of dispensing frequency.